Sunday, December 22, 2013

Fright or flight: THE CONJURING(2013)

I've spent the better part of my adult life fascinated by horror movies. It has been a passion of mine for what seems like forever. A quality horror film can provide a real rush...and also make it more difficult to sleep at night if it's a really top notch fright flick. I'm fifty one years of age and have been watching horror movies since I was a teenager. I like a lot of films in this genre but I can count on one hand the horror movies which really gave me the creeps: The Exorcist(1973), The Haunting(1963), Insidious(2010) and an older, black and white "werewolf" movie directed by Fred Sears called The Werewolf(1956).

Another movie has managed to give me the creeps and also a bit of lingering insomnia in the overnight hours: THE CONJURING(2013), directed by James Wan. Set during 1971, husband and wife paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren(played by Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga) come to the aid of the Perron family who are being terrorized daily(and nightly) by a malevolent entity in their new home, an isolated farmhouse in Harrisville, Rhode Island. Ed and Lorraine Warren have accumulated hundreds of case files and called the events that occurred in the Perron residence the most disturbing case they ever worked.

THE CONJURING reminds me a lot of films likeInsidious(2010), The Exorcist(1973) & The Amityville Horror(1979). There is excellent use of backlighting and shadows by director James Wan in this movie. Wan effectively exploits the latent, almost primal fear just about everyone feels when peering into a dark cellar or into the shadowy area behind a door in a mostly darkened room. If ever there was a film that capitalized on the fear of the unknown and the unseen then The Conjuring is absolutely that movie! The reveal of the evil, vicious entity behind all the madness and chaos in the Perron family residence doesn't disappoint either!

I don't scare easily and never have but this film got to me several times. Watch The Conjuring(2013) and you may never look at a dark closet, basement cellar or a mirror ever the same again.

The Conjuring(2013) is available on Blu Ray(and DVD) and can be purchased at Amazon or most other online retailers. I highly recommend this movie to anyone who enjoys horror movies.

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About me

Single, 53 years old, dedicated movie buff, longtime Atlanta(GA) resident and career landscaper/nurseryman
,dedicated fan of the Atlanta Falcons, Philadelphia Eagles and Tennessee Titans.
I am also a great fan of Godzilla, Ultraman, Japanese fantasy/sci fi films as well as classic horror/sci-fi cinema